Lewis and Katya will next be seen on the BBC dancing competition to a Harry Styles’ song

Strictly Come Dancing star Lewis Cope has revealed that ‘it’s quite exposing’ as he made a ‘very emotional’ admission about the BBC dancing competition.

Lewis is best known for playing the role of Nicky Miligan on the ITV soap Emmerdale, which he joined in 2022. Recent months have seen him competing on Strictly with professional dancer Katya Jones.

Together, Lewis and Katya are one of the favourites to lift the coveted Glitterball Torphy next month as a result of consistently topping the leaderboard on the programme. Additionally, they are yet to have found themselves in the dreaded dance-off.

The Strictly Blackpool special at the Ballroom Tower proved to be another successful week for the pair as they received their second perfect score of the series. It was revealed by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman early into the episode that no one would be eliminated as a result of drag queen La Voix’s injury.

While they knew they were through to week 10, Lewis and Katya still had the pressure of opening the fan favourite episode of the series. Performing a Charleston to Arctic Monkeys’ I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, each of the four judges raised their ten paddle, giving them a score of 40 out of 40 points.

On Friday (November 28), Lewis and Katya appeared on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two to talk to presenter Fleur East about how their Strictly journey continues to impress those watching at home.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Lewis Cope and Katya Jones (Image: Katya Jones Instagram)

“I don’t even know how it [their perfect score] happened. Everyone is working so hard and it’s nice to get that reward. Your experience of the dance is usually how you get scored,” he told Fleur.

Katya added: “In my gut the panels got confused. We were first out and just before Tess announced that no one was going home. That weight was off our shoulders. We just danced for joy.

“That night was more of a celebration of how far they’ve come. To get 40 then… in my opinion, he just gave them no option. He performed with such conviction. I was dancing thinking ‘what is happening, this is outstanding’.”

With Fleur noting that they got to dance something a ‘little stripped back’, Katya praised choreographer Jenny Thomas, saying: “I love working with Jenny, we’ve been working together for ten years. When I said ‘we’re going to jump through a hoop that’s created with my leg’ she was like ‘okay’…

“She’s so good with the authentic dance and she was so excited to do an actual proper swing. He was able to pull it off, a huge shout out to Jenny and Sean.”

Looking ahead to Saturday night (November 29), Lewis and Katya will be dancing the Rumba to Harry Styles’ hit song Falling. However, Lewis revealed that the dance may not leave many dry eyes in the house.

“I am not going to be falling. It’s very different from anything we’ve done before. I’d say it’s quite exposing. When you bring the tempo down and tell that story, it’s almost in slow motion. You’re very exposed and it’s very emotional actually… It’s tough,” he said.

Katya replied: “It’s quite emotive. You have to be able to get the basics so strong that you can tell the story on top of it. One without the other is weak, a story without the dance move or the dance moves without the story.